mwdake

Try kayak.com, enter a search for what you need and when then you will be able to set up an alert that will send an email each day with the latest prices. I think you have to sign up for an account, it is free.

I tried this for flights to Munich a while back when they were up around $1800 or so, one day an email showed one airline with < $1200,
Of course there is no guarantee prices will drop and it depends on how long you can hold out hoping for a better deal.

scrubbedexpat091

just use Kayak and then see who is cheapest for a non-stop and then go to the airlines website and check, sometimes we perceive airline A or B being cheaper or more expensive when the reality may not be true.

Just look at Southwest on the domestic front, most think of them being cheapest, but many times they are not, and there is a reason they don't sell on 3rd party sites or allow their flights on them, harder for passengers to compare their prices, people just go to their website and end up booking.

The 90 day thing Pulaski pointed out can work, but it can also backfire, just have to keep looking and comparing over a couple weeks/a month and see how the fares are, fares can change hundreds of times in a day, so you never know what will be offered.

You will also pay a premium on any non-stop, and low fuel prices really mean nothing, airlines won't lower their prices if the market will support the higher prices, airline profits are generally low and they can go years without one, so anytime they can charge more and pocket more, they will.

Pulaski

I tried monitoring prices daily on Kayak, alongside several other travel sites, but gave up on Kayak after a couple of weeks because it never had the lowest price tickets. FWIW the route/ flight/ dates that I paid about $950 each for last summer is currently selling for over $1,800!

mwdake

Yep, like many things these days it sometimes meets ones needs and other times not.
It has worked for me in the past. I also used their explorer function a few months back and when I saw flights to Brussels in April/May for $680 round trip I couldn't resist.

Airfare pricing makes no sense half the time, I have paid > $680 for a domestic round trip to Wilkes-Barre PA before now.

SurreyMum

Dek - 24th to 31st May is half term in UK so that might have an impact on flights for a UK based flyer.

Philgr

I don't know if it's an option for you but look at flying on Virgin from Vegas. You could drive there or get a cheap flight over from LAX. We saved close to three thousand dollars by doing that at Christmas rather than flying direct from SFO (even after counting the flights to Vegas). It looks as if the time slot you are looking for would be sub-$1000 from Vegas to London

penguinsix

Does Air New Zealand use their own planes on that route? I thought they partnered with United which is usually a disaster.

scrubbedexpat027

I never thought of doing that. I'll take a look. I think Vegas usually goes to Manchester but that's doable.

scrubbedexpat091

How about from San Diego? BA still have their daily non-stop from there? Used to be cheaper then LAX but no clue about now.

Later into May you get the higher the price is, from San Diego mid month you can get as low as 1,400 round trip.

Now the break down of the fare really shows how idiotic taxes and fees have gotten.

Base Fare: 793.00

Taxes and Fees: 693.40

Makes you never want to fly to the UK.

What is the carrier imposed fee of 458? That is the highest extra cost on top of the fare, why not just up the fare 458 and not be so sneaky?

$235 is in government imposed fees and taxes.

Government, authority and airport charges Per adult
Customs User Fee - USA USD5.50
Transportation Tax(Departure) - USA USD17.70
Transportation Tax(Arrival) - USA USD17.70
Animal & Plant Health User Fee (Aphis) - USA USD5.00
Immigration User Fee - USA USD7.00
Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee - USA USD5.60
Air Passenger Duty - United Kingdom USD108.26
Passenger Service Charge - United Kingdom USD64.14
Passenger Facility Charge USD4.50
Total government, authority and airport charges* USD235.40
More information
British Airways fees and carrier charges Per adult
Carrier imposed charge USD458.00
Total British Airways fees and carrier charges USD458.00


I don't fly outside of North America, so haven't a clue why an airline would be adding such a huge amount to the ticket beyond the fare.

tonrob

Yes. Fifth Freedom route.

tonrob

'Carrier imposed charge', formerly known as Fuel Surcharge. Fuel price went down so the obvious solution was to change the name of it.

GeoffM

Further to Tonrob, IIRC if you fly on miles/points/Avios, then your ticket is free.... except you pay the fees and taxes, so $693.40. Other airlines don't have this fuel surcharge, sorry carrier imposed fee, so your "free" ticket is just the taxes, which outside of the UK are usually pretty low.

scrubbedexpat091

The taxes are reasonable as is the base fare, but the "carrier imposed fee" is ridiculous, a small surcharge is one thing, but this sort of thing in my opinion is deceptive. The government's should put a stop to it, all carrier fees should be included in the base fare.